Well, It's That Time Again...I Suppose I Should Post Something

I've been reading everyone's posts lately, I just haven't posted anything. Between school and...well, school, I've been swamped. However, I have picked up a few cards. I mentioned that I had a few dollars left over from a few deals I made before I left the oil and gas industry....those dollars are officially gone.

I'm not going to post everything tonight, though. I have to keep you coming back, right? So let's take a look at the new additions to the Matt Harrison PC.

First up, some minis:

If I didn't tell you these were minis, you'd never know. But they are. And now you know. The black is numbered to 5 and the pink is numbered to 25. I need only the mini base and gold parallel to be done with 2014 minis! (In case you forgot, I picked up the Platinum 1/1 a little while ago)

I also snagged this guy:

The 2013 Topps Tribute "Tribute to the Stars" auto numbered to 24. The scan really doesn't do the card justice. It's absolutely beautiful.

Now, on to a few more card-related things. First, I am sending cards to Tony and Keith today. Sorry it took me so long to get these in the mail to y'all. I know it is frustrating on your end, and I sincerely apologize.

Second, since Mr. Nachose Grande is hosting a 2015 Topps Heritage break, I think I will refrain from doing the same. I don't want to be a direct competitor. What this means for you: I will probably wait and once again host a Gypsy Queen break (last year was fun, right?) or a Bowman break, both of which release in April.  

Lastly, you may have noticed that I said I Was out of card money. That's no joke, and it sucks. So, I decided to do what I always do; sell a few cards on eBay that don't fit my PCs. However, I want to do something a little different. Remember this?

It's a 2001 team-issued, autographed (and team certified) A-Rod jersey. My former boss gave it to me as a Christmas present. I was stoked at the time, but it really doesn't fit my collection and I have nowhere to display it. So I thought about raffling it off - to you! I would sell spots - 10 spots for $15 each (maybe 3 for $35) - and then "draw" a name via random.org. Of course, everything would be "televised" via one of the video services. Is that something any of you would be a fan of? Leave me a note below telling me if that is a good - or bad - idea! I would appreciate it!

That's all for now, people. Have a good one!

Time To Clean Out The Scan Folder

I've got too many scans that I haven't shared. Most of these are cards that I added between the time I left my old job and today. They are pretty much self-explanatory, so apologies in advance for the lack of commentary.

First up, the canary yellow Luke Jackson 2014 Bowman Chrome mini, numbered to 25. Because 44 cards just wasn't enough for the rainbow, let's go ahead and add 11 more. Ridiculous.

Here's another one. The black shimmer refractor. This one isn't numbered.

From 2014 Simply Supreme, here's the Nick Martinez purple auto numbered 12 of 25.

Another Martinez, this one the '14 Topps Chrome silver auto numbered to 25.

Lastly, a 2013 Heritage Yu Darvish rookie cup. I couldn't pass this one up, listed as a BIN for $3.99.

My 2015 Topps Series 1 Jumbo Box (Plus Two Packs)

As I mentioned in my goals for 2015, I wanted to buy only 1 jumbo box of each of the flagship releases (S1, S2 and Update). Well, I failed, kind of. I bought a jumbo box and two more jumbo packs.

Unlike everyone else, I don't really care for the new design. The full bleed/fade really aggravates my OCD makes the cards look "busy" before you even get to the image. 

Also, other than standard foil parallels and the gold parallels, I didn't have a single numbered parallel out of the bunch. No pinks, blacks, snow camos, etc. Well, except for one. More on that in a moment. Whereas my 2014 Update produced an image variation and a sparkle variation, my 2015 jumbo provided only the sparkle.

I also had a ton of duplicates, yet I did not receive a copy of every base card. Hence the reason I bought two additional packs. Anyway, enough complaining. Here's what I got.

I mentioned that I pulled a "parallel." Well, have a look:

It's the framed parallel of Dillon Gee, numbered 2 of 20. I can't even begin to explain how much it bothers me that this is now considered a parallel.

The first relic was of the manufactured variety:

The Jose Abreu player silhouette relic. Topps keeps pushing the boundaries of what is classified as a "relic."

The second relic is one that I would never want, so I am pretty sure Tony will take it:

The Ryan Braun Career High relic. Generic white swatch. Tony, if you don't want it, let me know and I'll open it up for trade.

The auto was a bit better than the "relics":

The Career High auto of David Cone. Better than most of the autographs, but still not someone I go crazy for. Keith, you get first shot at it (and the Gee, if you want it).

Lastly, the "best" "hit" (I use both of those terms relatively here) came in the form of a sparkle variation:

Mr. World Series MVP himself. Normally, I would trade this card away, but people are paying a nice chunk of change for this card, so it will soon be on eBay. Just a few days ago, Brian, the brains behind PATP, pulled a Kershaw sparkle from a repack. I bet he sold it, too.

As I mentioned, I did not get every base card in my jumbo box, which is ridiculous. So I decided to buy a couple more jumbo packs to try to get the remaining cards I needed (I didn't). From those, I pulled a relic and a photo variation.

Here's the relic:

Another Career High relic, this time of Julio Teheran. At least it isn't a white swatch this time.

And the photo variation:

Mr. Paul Konerko. I like this card. Konerko never got the attention he deserved, so it was nice of Topps to include this photo on a card.

So there it is, nothing terribly exciting for my box. I will have my needs list and trade list up soon (hopefully this week, though no promises). All of the cards are for trade, though a few are being held for people (listed above) that I feel deserve the first shot. Hit me up on the others!

2015 Goal Accomplished

Well, not one of my Top 5 goals.

A "I hope to accomplish this also" goal. Here's what I said:

Though I doubt I will have the money, I would like to add a certified Bryce Harper auto to the collection. I would also like to add a Mantle to my collection (any Mantle - I'm not picky), but I don't know if I will be able to afford it.

It isn't the Mantle that I added.

I snagged this guy:

It's the 2011 Heritage Minors Real One auto of Harper, numbered 34 of 154 (an eBay 1/1!!!). I've always liked this card, just never thought one would hit my price range.

I know what you're thinking: "Judson, bro...you said that you would have to cut back on cards once you started school! What gives?!?!"

Well, before I left my last job, I was able to close a couple deals that netted me a bit of cash, a small part of which was put away for cards. So I grabbed this one and I'm looking at a few others. This one, though, is far and away the most expensive, but I still spent less than $140 on it. I can sleep at night, so I'm okay.

Anyway, life as a PhD student has been...interesting. I teach a class that the students don't want to take. That's interesting. I am in class till 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. However, I have already been asked to work with a team requesting a $20 million grant (that number still blows my freakin' mind), and I will also be on the team that does the research if we get the grant. So that's cool.

So keep an eye out. I have more cards to share, but I wanted to show the Harper off a bit. I hope everyone is well out there!

Pretty Good Day At My New LCS

I visited my new LCS today, Lone Star Sports Collectibles. It's a pretty nice shop. I bought a box of 2013 Bowman Chrome and 2014 Bowman. To say that I did pretty well might be a huge understatement.

Each box promises one auto per box. Both of my boxes had two. I wound up with four autos out of two boxes!!!!

Even more awesome: three of the four autos had color, the highest being numbered to 50.

So what did I pull???

From 2014 Bowman, a Lewis Thorpe blue wave auto numbered 7 of 50. I also pulled an Enny Romero orange wave auto, numbered 8 of 25!!!

From the 2013 Bowman Chrome box, I snagged a Cameron Gallagher base auto. The big hit of the day is the Adalberto Mejia purple auto numbered 3 of 10!!!!

The Gallagher is up for trade, but I haven't decided on the others. Feel free to make an offer, but I don't want to make it seem like I am trying to move these guys.

Holy Crap, A New Post!!!

So, I haven't blogged in a while. By now you know that I decided to get my PhD and I have little to no free time. Turns out, teaching is actually work and reading is quite essential.

But hey, I'm not one to give excuses. But I guess that qualifies as one.

Dammit.

Anyway, I picked up a new card for the Martinez PC. Let's take a look:

It's the silver version of the 2014 Pro Debut auto. This one is numbered 15 of 25.

Sadly, that's all that's new in my collecting world. Life has been good here though. Outside of all the aforementioned work, I've put together a quality group of friends outside of school to be my support group. I even found a young lady I enjoy spending time with. Don't think too much into that - my schedule is crazy and school has to come first, so we are just spending time together when we can. Nothing more.

Quick alert: if you have no interest in talk about faith, go ahead and stop reading now.

Still here? Cool, I really appreciate that. I started another blog as a spot for me to discuss some things related to my faith. I'm calling it "In The Shadow Of His Grace" and you can visit it here. This is my way of venting about how I don't really fit in to the churches I've attended. If you feel the same way, I hope you'll join the conversation! If not, no worries - I hope to still talk cardboard with you! And don't worry, this will be the last time I mention it on this blog!

I've Been MIA!!!

The move has officially occurred, and I have just been waiting for the cable guy to show up and fix my internet and cable. I got tired of waiting and fixed the internet myself, so now I can share with you all that I am, in fact, alive.

But I really don't have much to say, cardboard-wise. So let me update you on what #WalletHarry has been up to.

#WalletHarry got to meet a Big Ass Bull on the move today...he thinks it would make one hell of a steak dinner! pic.twitter.com/mxgbzyqymV
— My Cardboard Habit (@cardboardhabit) January 9, 2015

#WalletHarry took in the scenery of West Texas earlier. #WalletCard pic.twitter.com/sxbNSzqpIF
— My Cardboard Habit (@cardboardhabit) January 9, 2015

#WalletHarry helping me set up my new office. #WalletCard pic.twitter.com/sgKlZzyZSn
— My Cardboard Habit (@cardboardhabit) January 11, 2015